anonstu
Oct 26, 2010
Undergraduate / "A focus of a journalist": achievement, risk, or experience essay [8]
Significant achievement, experience or risk, and how it affected you
This is the final version of my previously posted essay. Thanks for your reply to that EF_Kevin! Could you or another mod look over this ASAP? I will be applying within a week.
As I signed in at the media desk, my youth and inexperience stood out immediately from the crowd of veteran reporters. "Are you old enough to drive son?" the receptionist asked. "Yes," I replied. My thoughts returned to earth as I took my place among the gathered reporters. For months prior to the Doolittle Raiders' Reunion, I was pumped over the prospect of flying in a WWII bomber. Now that I was getting my first taste of a journalist's job, my mind turned from thrilling visions to the reality of my task.
As the culmination of a year of tireless photography training, I had taken my first official assignment from an aviation magazine. From the day I first closed a camera shutter, my goal was to gain some credibility as a photographer by getting photographs published thereby allowing me to take media flights at air shows. To give back to a host event at which I would fly, I decided I should return any favors with a feature length article. After I made a deal to deliver an article to a magazine, I was gambling my reputation, but the visions of flight played on in my head.
Back in an airplane hangar, at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, I am thinking that maybe I should be more careful about diving head first for a flight. Yes, I had made tentative arrangements to fly, but to train on the job at a major Air Force event? Now, I can see clearly what work my job entails, and I am beginning to feel intimidated. If I am to continue my journalism career, my objectives need to change. I've just left a media conference with the Secretary of the Air Force, and I am now scribbling notes at a banquet. I could possibly get a plane ride on Sunday, but what is the use if I fail to cover the event adequately? My thoughts settle down toward the latter part of the night, but I need some time at home to regroup.
My first night on the job is over, and I have just experienced the first part of a three act event. I'm working late into the night to document the day's activities only to rise before 5am to resume work. The opportunity for a ride passed by on the third day, and instead of flying, I covered a memorial ceremony which I saw was vital to my story. I was not really disappointed since the time spent on the ground allowed me to complete my job and write a successful article. After this first experience, I came to a crossroads. I could see that as a reporter, it wasn't so easy to just claim plane rides. I would stop writing if snagging easy rides was my motivation because it was unrealistic. The other path, which I chose, was to establish my place in the freelance writing business by regularly taking on assignments for publication. I realized that, though it seemed difficult at first, I did in fact like this reporting job even without frequent rides. In doing something I enjoy, I have gained the trust of an editor, and I am beginning to make connections in the local aviation community.
Significant achievement, experience or risk, and how it affected you
This is the final version of my previously posted essay. Thanks for your reply to that EF_Kevin! Could you or another mod look over this ASAP? I will be applying within a week.
As I signed in at the media desk, my youth and inexperience stood out immediately from the crowd of veteran reporters. "Are you old enough to drive son?" the receptionist asked. "Yes," I replied. My thoughts returned to earth as I took my place among the gathered reporters. For months prior to the Doolittle Raiders' Reunion, I was pumped over the prospect of flying in a WWII bomber. Now that I was getting my first taste of a journalist's job, my mind turned from thrilling visions to the reality of my task.
As the culmination of a year of tireless photography training, I had taken my first official assignment from an aviation magazine. From the day I first closed a camera shutter, my goal was to gain some credibility as a photographer by getting photographs published thereby allowing me to take media flights at air shows. To give back to a host event at which I would fly, I decided I should return any favors with a feature length article. After I made a deal to deliver an article to a magazine, I was gambling my reputation, but the visions of flight played on in my head.
Back in an airplane hangar, at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, I am thinking that maybe I should be more careful about diving head first for a flight. Yes, I had made tentative arrangements to fly, but to train on the job at a major Air Force event? Now, I can see clearly what work my job entails, and I am beginning to feel intimidated. If I am to continue my journalism career, my objectives need to change. I've just left a media conference with the Secretary of the Air Force, and I am now scribbling notes at a banquet. I could possibly get a plane ride on Sunday, but what is the use if I fail to cover the event adequately? My thoughts settle down toward the latter part of the night, but I need some time at home to regroup.
My first night on the job is over, and I have just experienced the first part of a three act event. I'm working late into the night to document the day's activities only to rise before 5am to resume work. The opportunity for a ride passed by on the third day, and instead of flying, I covered a memorial ceremony which I saw was vital to my story. I was not really disappointed since the time spent on the ground allowed me to complete my job and write a successful article. After this first experience, I came to a crossroads. I could see that as a reporter, it wasn't so easy to just claim plane rides. I would stop writing if snagging easy rides was my motivation because it was unrealistic. The other path, which I chose, was to establish my place in the freelance writing business by regularly taking on assignments for publication. I realized that, though it seemed difficult at first, I did in fact like this reporting job even without frequent rides. In doing something I enjoy, I have gained the trust of an editor, and I am beginning to make connections in the local aviation community.
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